Friday, November 07, 2008

Jesus in Galilee - Luke 4:31-44

I noted that Jesus has done 4 things when he was in Galilee.

First he taught at the synagogues. As mentioned in v43, I think it's Jesus' main mission i.e. to preach the good news of God's kingdom. Not like us, Jesus never forget what he came on earth for. He knew where he needed to go. He might slow down for awhile because he had compassion on people around him, but he has never lost sight of where he wanted to go.

But along the way, he also drove out demons. From people's reaction and amazement to Jesus' ability to order the demon to leave the possessed person, it's obvious that no other but Jesus has such authority. Sometimes we may forget that many of the things we take for granted nowadays are indeed gift from Jesus, and they were not known or unheard of before Jesus made them available to us. Calling God our Abba, Father, is one, and the other is this authority to drive out demon.

Moved by compassion, Jesus also healed many as he taught. Like the temptation posted by the devil in the wilderness, the ability to heal and drive out demons has easily attracted a large crowd for Jesus. But this is not what he came here for and it's not the way he'd save the world. He's clear about it so he moved on, refusing people's request for him to stay.

I like this line in v42, "At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place." No more details were given but it's quite clear that Jesus went out, trying to pray, to spend time with our Heavenly Father. This is so important to him and we can read about his prayer through out the Gospels. It should be as important to me as well.

When was the last time I went out to a solitary place to pray? ... I thank God. At least I can have this quiet moment to read the bible and put down my thought here. Pray that I can continue doing so even after the maternity leave.

No comments: